About the Project

Born July 21, 1899, Ernest Hemingway spent at least some time in northern Michigan every year through his marriage in Horton Bay, September 3, 1921. (In 1918 he missed a summer season: he was in World War One Italy, serving in the ambulance corps.)

More of his short stories are set in Michigan than in any other place. They feature the Hemingway-like character Nick Adams and are largely based on the people and places he experienced in the Little Traverse Bay region.

For decades, readers of the Nick Adams stories (and of his novel, The Torrents of Spring, which is set in Petoskey) have traveled to northern Michigan to see the sites associated with the stories and with Hemingway himself. Until now, visitors have had to search for these locations on their own; there were no signs or publications to guide them.

For over thirty years The Michigan Hemingway Society has promoted interest in Hemingway's literary and personal connections to northern Michigan. At its annual conference and through statewide partnerships and presentations, the MHS has raised awareness and appreciation of these connections.

To assist people seeking to discover Hemingway's Michigan, the MHS proposed a self guided tour to be supported by permanent markers at significant locations, a print publication, and a website where additional information could be found.

Using MHS founding board member Ken Marek's exhaustive research, sites were chosen, and work on the publication and website began. Generous northern Michigan funders made all of this possible.

The tour was inaugurated in June 2012 to coincide with the International Hemingway Society's conference at Petoskey - Bay View. Many tour locations in Petoskey can easily be walked. Other sites are several miles from Petoskey and are clustered around places he knew well such as Walloon Lake and Horton Bay.

In taking the tour, individuals may gain further historic and contemporary insights into this place that was Hemingway's northern home and the writing it inspired.